Academic Theory

Why Going to College Might Be More Important Than What You Study

I think that my largest motivation behind going to university was the safety net factor. It was like moving out into the world on my own, except I was only being a student (which was all I really knew) and there was a giant system designed around housing, feeding and amusing me. This probably is not the best way to train for life because it exists as a completely fabricated reality, parallel to the real world but it was good for me. I got my first job motivated by need. I found myself, in my effort to not take out loans, with $33 to my name and lacking about two critical textbooks. Then I worked as a custodian and found out that I still was not over my fear of household chemical-cleaners. I ended up taking out loans.

Paying back those loans will be a worthwhile challenge because the person that pays them has developed a great deal. Cliché: college is a good place to discover one's self. In contradiction to academic standards, I do not posses any fancy statistics, but I remain confident that a large proportion of graduates, or even non-grads do NOT work in their field of study. Luckily, I planned for this and designed my choice of major around pleasure, skill, utility and future regret. After four years, even if I never translate, interpret, subtitle or live abroad again, I will still speak Spanish and continue to put it on every job application I fill out. In the real world, speaking Spanish will also help me in the service industries, construction and farming, and basically any job I search for in Texas, Florida, New York, California, Arizona or any other major urban area.
Returning from the southern United States to my cliché...Universities are pluralistic breeding centers of any path in life one could desire. If you like a language, you can probably study it or at least find someone that speaks it. If you like science, which kind? You can learn about chemistry, including organic, lab and computational; biology, including zoology, conservation, ecology; engineering and other sciency-flavored subject that my useless humanities degree can not comprehend. There are religious clubs if you want to join a cult or if your spirit pulls in a different direction from your upbringing. It is possible to explore cultures, sexuality, jobs and careers, manias (most universities have psychological services, often free of charge [read: covered in tuition]), transportations and really anything all within the confines of an institution. Many life skills are also explored such as driving, orienteering, laundering and cooking.


Aside from the debt, I can find one major drawback in my theory. Many courses of study, if followed through, are not skills per se. I did not learn to interpret-I learned Spanish. I assume Career Services and it's other collegiate mirrors were supposed to fix this. Regardless, and with the exception of certain programs, supplementary programs and tradeschools, the only thing I really know how to be and do successfully is a studenthood. Maybe the safety net is too safe but I never would have discovered that, nor myself as I know me to be, if I had not jumped.